So! With that in mind, we’re honored to announce our nominees for the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards, unveiled this morning at The Jeremy hotel in West Hollywood by presenters Lily Collins (To the Bone, Okja, Rules Don’t Apply) and Tessa Thompson (Dear White People, Creed, Thor: Ragnarok). Once again, this year’s Spirit Award nominees represent a true uniqueness of vision and innovation in visual storytelling. They are:
BEST FEATURE
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME PRODUCERS: Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Rodgrigo Teixeira, Marco Morabito, James Ivory, Howard Rosenman THE FLORIDA PROJECT PRODUCERS: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou GET OUT PRODUCERS: Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele LADY BIRD PRODUCERS: Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill, Scott Rudin THE RIDER PRODUCERS: Mollye Asher, Bert Hamelinck,Sacha Ben Harroche, Chloé Zhao (Award given to the producer)
BEST FIRST FEATURE
COLUMBUS DIRECTOR: Kogonada PRODUCERS: Danielle Renfrew Behrens, Aaron Boyd, Giulia Caruso, Ki Jin Kim, Andrew Miano, Chris Weitz INGRID GOES WEST DIRECTOR: Matt Spicer PRODUCERS: Jared Goldman, Adam Mirels, Robert Mirels, Aubrey Plaza, Tim White, Trevor White MENASHE DIRECTOR: Joshua Z. Weinstein PRODUCERS: Yoni Brook, Traci Carlson, Daniel Finkelman, Alex Lipschultz OH LUCY! DIRECTOR: Atsuko Hirayanagi PRODUCERS: Jessica Elbaum, Yukie Kito, Han West PATTI CAKE$ DIRECTOR: Geremy Jasper PRODUCERS: Chris Columbus, Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Noah Stahl, Rodrigo Teixeira (Award given to the producer and director)
BEST DIRECTOR
Sean Baker, The Florida Project Jonas Carpignano, A Ciambra Luca Guadagnino, Call Me by Your Name Jordan Peele, Get Out Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Good Time Chloé Zhao, The Rider
BEST SCREENPLAY
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird Azazel Jacobs, The Lovers Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri Jordan Peele, Get Out Mike White, Beatriz at Dinner
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Kris Avedisian, Kyle Espeleta (story by), Jesse Wakeman (story by), Donald Cried Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick Ingrid Jungermann, Women Who Kill Kogonada, Columbus David Smith, Matt Spicer, Ingrid Goes West
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
DAYVEON WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Amman Abbasi WRITER: Steven Reneau PRODUCERS: Lachion Buckingham, Alexander Uhlmann A GHOST STORY WRITER/DIRECTOR: David Lowery PRODUCERS: Adam Donaghey, Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston LIFE AND NOTHING MORE WRITER/DIRECTOR: Antonio Méndez Esparza PRODUCERS: Amadeo Hernández Bueno, Alvaro Portanet Hernández, Pedro Hernández Santos MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Ana Asensio PRODUCERS: Larry Fessenden, Noah Greenberg, Chadd Harbold, Jenn Wexler THE TRANSFIGURATION WRITER/DIRECTOR: Michael O’Shea PRODUCER: Susan Leber (Award given to the best feature made for under $500,000; given to the writer, director and producer)
BEST MALE LEAD
Harris Dickinson, Beach Rats Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out Robert Pattinson, Good Time James Franco, The Disaster Artist
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Salma Hayek Pinault, Beatriz at Dinner Frances McDormand, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri Margot Robbie, I, Tonya Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird Regina Williams, Life and Nothing More Shinobu Terajima, Oh Lucy!
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Nnamdi Asomugha, Crown Heights Armie Hammer, Call Me by Your Name Barry Keoghan, The Killing of a Sacred Deer Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri Benny Safdie, Good Time
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Holly Hunter, The Big Sick Allison Janney, I, Tonya Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird Lois Smith, Marjorie Prime Taliah Lennice Webster, Good Time
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Thimios Bakatakis, The Killing of a Sacred Deer Elisha Christian, Columbus Hélène Louvart, Beach Rats Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Call Me by Your Name Joshua James Richards, The Rider
BEST EDITING
Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Good Time Walter Fasano, Call Me by Your Name Alex O’Flinn, The Rider Gregory Plotkin, Get Out Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
BPM (BEATS PER MINUTE) (France) DIRECTOR: Robin Campillo A FANTASTIC WOMAN (Chile) DIRECTOR: Sebastián Lelio I AM NOT A WITCH (UK) DIRECTOR: Rungano Nyoni LADY MACBETH (UK) DIRECTOR: William Oldroyd LOVELESS (Russia) DIRECTOR: Andrey Zvyagintsev
BEST DOCUMENTARY
THE DEPARTURE DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Lana Wilson FACES PLACES DIRECTORS: Agnés Varda, JR PRODUCER: Rosalie Varda LAST MEN IN ALEPPO DIRECTOR: Feras Fayyad PRODUCERS: Kareem Abeed, Steen Jespersen, Stefan Kloos MOTHERLAND DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Ramona S. Diaz PRODUCER: Rey Cuerdo QUEST DIRECTOR: Jonathan Olshefski PRODUCER: Sabrina Schmidt Gordon (Award given to the director and producer)
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
MUDBOUND DIRECTOR: Dee Rees CASTING DIRECTORS: Billy Hopkins, Ashley Ingram ENSEMBLE CAST: Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan, Carey Mulligan (Award given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
JEEP TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
THE CAGE FIGHTER DIRECTOR: Jeff Unay DISTANT CONSTELLATION DIRECTOR: Shevaun Mizrahi QUEST DIRECTOR: Jonathan Olshefski (The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 23rd year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant sponsored by the Jeep brand.)
KIEHL’s SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
DAYVEON DIRECTOR: Amman Abbasi GOOK DIRECTOR: Justin Chon SUPER DARK TIMES DIRECTOR: Kevin Phillips (The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 24th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851.)
PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Giulia Caruso & Ki Jin Kim Ben LeClair Summer Shelton (The Producers Award, now in its 21st year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant sponsored by Piaget.)
AMERICAN AIRLINES BONNIE AWARD
So Yong Kim Lynn Shelton Chloé Zhao (Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo joined American Airlines in 1973 at age 24, becoming the first female pilot to fly for a major U.S. airline. In her honor, the inaugural Bonnie Award will recognize a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant, sponsored by American Airlines.) Watch this morning’s press conference in its entirety below:
Want more? Aim those insatiable eyeballs of yours at the highlights below, featuring even more from Collins and Thompson. And be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel all awards season long for more Spirit Awards coverage!
But before you start filling out your awards ballot and planning your March 3 viewing party, it’s time for you to help determine this year’s winners. Members of Film Independent who join by December 7 will enjoy all that our awards-season Membership privileges have to offer, including screeners of select nominated films and access to free theatrical screenings of ALL nominated films in Los Angeles (and don’t worry if you miss the December deadline—screenings and voting are open to all new Members joining before January 19.) Click here for more info. And for information on how to actually attend the Spirit Awards, click here. The 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards happen Saturday, March 3 on the beach in Santa Monica and will be broadcast live on IFC at 2p/5e with returning hosts Nick Kroll and John Mulaney. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow Film Independent on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep up with all of the latest updates before, during and after the show itself. Now—go watch some movies!
